Sales of smartphones are rocketing, and more than half mobile phone users in the UK have one. But that means that a little less than half don't, and for many of them, they don't need a phone they can watch TV on or can use to pay for their sudden Frappuccino craving. For those people, there's little more attractive than a phone that does what it's supposed to -- make phone calls.

Enter the Vodafone 155.

Design

Advertisement

The Vodafone 155 is a simple phone for sure, and a bit of thought has clearly gone into making it that way. Made by Alcatel (remember them?) it's lightweight at 68g, yet its plastic body feels sturdy and reliable. On one side are volume buttons and a 3.5mm headphone jack (though it doesn't come with any headphones of its own).

There's also a button that takes you straight to the FM radio.

Read next

This will automatically scan for stations and save them as favourites so you can easily find them again. Unusually, you don't actually need to use the headphones as an aerial -- it will work through the loudspeaker alone, though reception isn't as good.

Panic button

Advertisement

On the back is a large button with a big heart on it. This is the SOS key, and you can set it up so that a single long press lets out an alarm sound, and also automatically texts and calls a set series of numbers from your contacts.

On either edge are two switches, one to activate the torch at the top of the handset, the other to lock the keypad. It's all very easy and straightforward.

Screen

The screen measures just 1.7 inches and has a not-terribly-impressive quality to it. But this isn't a screen designed for browsing or viewing movies -- it has a very basic interface that allows you to scroll through its six sections in turn: contacts, call log, messaging, calendar, tools (including a couple of games and a calculator) and settings. Everything's big and bright and impossible to miss, which is exactly as required.

The keypad uses huge buttons, easy for the thickest of thumbs to find their way around. Other controls are limited to call stop and start, plus a simple D-pad that allows you to scroll up or down and select in menus. That's your lot, and in this case, that's all you really need.

Advertisement

It comes with a charging dock, which is a little easier to plug the phone into rather than fiddling with the microUSB connection at the bottom.

Conclusion

The Vodafone 155 is a handset that makes mobile simple for people who feel left behind by the mobile revolution. With its big buttons, clear display, FM radio, SOS alert mode (and very low price), it's an ideal present for an elderly relative.